So I was at some club the other night, here in Los Angeles, wasted out of my mind, hangin’ with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton…oh, and Lindsay Lohan was there too….oh, and none of them had underwear on….
Okay, so now that I’ve got your attention: Let me introduce myself. I’m just an East-coast gal tryin’ to live my life out on the West coast. I have a passion for acting that has always been with me, since first performing on stage at the age of five while growing up outside of Boston, MA (Winthrop to be exact; I moved to Marblehead at age 7). I’ve taken classes in acting, singing, and dance in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. I moved to L.A. in 2003, after 7 years in New York, to further pursue my career in acting in film and television.
I guess you could say that I am one opinionated woman. This column will be about many things: living in L.A., the entertainment industry, and almost anything you request. The most important thing about me, though, is that I remain a die-hard Red Sox fan. And I don’t mean those chicks with the cute pink Red Sox tanks and hats. This girl is for real.
Now, regardless of where I live, I just don’t like to be made to feel stupid…especially when I’m not! I’m not tryin to say I’m the brightest woman in the world, but I’m in L.A., land of the ditzy blondes, and seriously, that’s why I had to dye my hair back to brown after being a blonde for 10 years. I could only take so many people treating me like I was a 5-year old child! I mean, I get it, I can’t stand stupid people, but if there’s anything I can’t stand more, it’s being treated like I’m stupid!
I remember once, back in my blonde days, when a guy behind me in line at a store asked me if I knew how to use a roll of duct tape. At first I though he was kidding, but when I realized he was serious, I called my hairdresser on my car ride home and made an appointment to go back to the true brunette I am.
And another thing, the majority of people that I come in contact with out here are struggling to be successful in the entertainment industry, as am I. I mean, I’ve done a bunch of films, and some T.V., but I still have to sling drinks to make sure my bills get paid. So when I’m at my “money job” (no, it has nothing to do with the “money job”), I just want to be treated with some respect! Just because you’re sitting at my bar, and not at your money job, does not make you better than me!
YOU THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN ME?!
30 Comments
that’s why I had to dye my hair back to brown after being a blonde for 10 years. I could only take so many people treating me like I was a 5-year old child!
- so I guess the real question is why did you dye your hair blonde in the first place?
Easy. They have more fun.
“This girl is for real.”
I like her already.
PS. Thanks to a little help from the IMDB, I would say brunette is a better style.
How come there are no good brunette jokes?
Why are brunettes so proud of their hair?
It matches their moustache.
ok, so as to why I dyed my hair blonde in the first place, Adam, it’s because I was 17 and stupid, and in college, and partying non-stop…so being blonde seemed to fit oh too well.
and jess, thanks for the re-affirmation of my brunette-ness(???), although my mom tells me every day that she likes me better blonde. and oh kyle, your jokes are….hmmm..what’s the word i’m looking for???? ….sorry if i sound bitter, but i’m at work in the middle of what is to be a 16-hour day from hell….and i really just wish i was at home, drinking red wine, eating chocolate, and watching some cheesy 80s movie….
…umm, I don’t think I’m better than you. Actually I treat bartenders with the most respect. After all they are the ones responsible for keeping me intoxicated.
T.V. Actors, on the other hand, that are playing the role of a bartender totally piss me off. Because they lack the ability to reach through the t.v. and hand me a beer.
Wait duct tape can be used for anything from repairing ducts to binding peoples hands and mouths so they can not escape so the question that guy asked you really made no sense. If you ask me I think he was trying to pick you up and that was the best line his sorry little mind could come up with.
LEIGH, I LOVE YOUR COMMENT!!! i’m laughin my little butt off over here!
me and my homies still like the blonde hair
without sam as a bartender, i would have continued calling the drink “madras” a “mattress”… and i am no blond! so i owe her :)
Speaking of TV bartenders, I was thinking that, for Dave’s comic book trio thing, Woody Boyd, Coach, and Cliff Claven would, as a power trio, kick the ever living shit out of thor, gallagher, and tom cruise.
that might be so kyle… - but… - get a load a’this trio… - the real woody boyd… - mark and shania twain (they count as one because they’re conjoined at the hip)… - and… - louis gosset jr….
Sam, I’d like to hear your thoughts on tipping…since you know, your in the biz…ness of getting tipped…I mean, is there any relationship between good service and getting tipped anymore..or has it become so much a part of life that you could practically piss in someones drink and still get an extra buck or two…and also, do you get tipped more for being an attractive female, than say a male bartender…and if so, is there any justice in that..and do you feel dirty knowing that people are literally handing over money to you just because you are good looking….I tip for no other reason that I feel that society expects that I’m going to leave a 20% time on everything meal that I buy in a restaurant….It has almost no connection to the quality of my food, drink, service, etc…..its almost like a tax that I feel I must pay…I don’t mind doing it and I understand that because of the hourly wage, its a necessity in those industries…but at the same time, I feel its lost its true meaning…I guess you could say my problem is that I think service has declined over time and that tipping (which is supposed to be in exchange for good service) has become detached from that and is really just a burden that the public has to pay to make up for a wage system that is not correct….in most other parts of the world, servers get paid the same as all other hourly workers and tipping is not expected…therefore (in theory) you only get tipped when your service is above and beyond the normal call of duty…and really, isn’t that the way it should be…I mean, or else, drop the charade and just call it what it is…its added money on your bill because those who are serving you are underpaid…
If I do happen to get great service (and of course it does happen, its actually usually more from bartenders than waitstaff) then I really don’t know what to do…becasue I tip 20% regardless its almost like I should tip more than 20% (to actually recognize the level of service)…but i don’t and I feel bad because there is an imbalance between my tips and the reasons for which I’m “supposed” to be tipping…
I guess its one of those things that has really lost its meaning over time…what started out as a “nice” thing to do for those that make their living in service has become something else, an expectation, and thats not a bad thing, its just different.
Thoughts?
…and for you, Adam, a blog in the making on my thoughts on tipping….
Let me guess, you work at Hennessey’s.
I am curious about tipping business also, from those that work in an industry where they receive tips. I do not follow the 20% everytime rule. I expect good service, I always tip (sometimes I wish I had the balls not to tip if I receive wretched service, but I still do) but the amount in my tipping varys from bad service @ 10 percent to excellent service @ 20+ percent.
I tip 20% for basic service, less than that for bad service, and more than that for good service.
I hear what you’re saying on the tax thing, Adam. But I don’t blame the waitstaff for that. I don’t think it’s an expectation on their behalf…well, not necessarily. I think it’s more that we, as a society, have deemed it “okay” for waiters and waitresses (and bartenders too, I suppose) to make less than minimum wage. Wouldn’t it make more sense — and I haven’t thought too hard about it, so it might not — for them to make minimum wage, and then, if a person felt like tipping, a person could tip, but if the person didn’t, then that’s okay too.
Here’s a question for ya: Are you supposed to tip the gas station attendant at a full service pump? I mean, you don’t see much of them around nowadays, right? And when I go to one of them, which is only when I’m being extremely lazy or if it’s the closest gas station and I’m running on fumes…when I go to one of them, I feel like I should tip, not because “society” expects me to, but because they’re actually doing me a service. I mean, I know they’re getting paid and that their cost is built into the price you pay at the pump, but still. I feel awkward not tipping them.
Oh, and I never do. Tip them that is. But I feel awkward about it.
Anyway, waitresses should make minimum wage.
End of statement.
Tip a full service gas attendant? Never heard of such a thing.
I worked through part of college at Mobile. I was a Fuel Injection Specialist…yeah, I was a fucking gas pumper OKAY! Anyway plenty of people tipped me. But I would wash windows and check oil and shit…and I’d always make smiley faces at the ladies. But I have an unfair advantage, I was a hot gas station dude, with long hair and clean clothes. Who wouldn’t want to tip me? I never expected it and didn’t get mad if people didn’t, but I made a lot of extra cash anyway. Shit, I was working between Swampscott, Salem and Marblehead (a lot of high rollers)…Hmmm maybe I have a next post idea too…hmmmmmmm? “HOT GAS STATION DUDE GETS PUMPED”
i’ll do the pumping if you don’t mind…
in the car wash… - with the soapy rubber tentacles slapping up against our young and willing bodies… - cleansing your naked back with a squeegee and reaching into your fanny pack that hangs around your naked waist for a moist towelette and a dog biscuit…
I can’t top that comment David.
But, back to tipping, I thought it was customary to tip those fuel injection specialists, I always tried to never go to one, because I always felt so awkward sitting in my car like a douche bag, but its happened.
Second thought, a friend of mine in Texas was waitressing for less than five dollars an hour + tips. That shit is ridiculous, especially since there are people who just don’t tip, albeit the tipping rule.
I like to tip with lots of money!
Especially the bartender because you know that they take care of a good tipper!
Last time I ordered a Jack’n'Coke up at the pub that shit was like pure wisk-ay!
I don’t have any concept of money and really like to give it away to people.
Wait? Leigh has post ideas? You wouldn’t know it from looking at the site, since he’s blown off his last couple of deadlines and all.
Ooooh! Damn! Snap!
oh no you di-int…
Okay, so I’m planning on writing much more about tipping in my next blog, but just to make some sense here…waiters, bartenders, etc. are by law, required to get minimum wage…i know for sure that is true(at least in Cali and NY)….
In NH, as far as I know, there is not a law which requires waitstaff to be paid minimum wage. At least there wasn’t one back when I was in high school/freshman year and getting $2.38 an hour to wait tables. I actually used to get negative checks (yes, negative checks), where I OWED money at the end of the pay period due to having to pay taxes on the tips I made, which the $2.38 an hour didn’t always cover. In college, I was lucky enough to have a waitressing gig that paid well hourly, plus I got tips on top of that (because I worked at a Conference Center).
As someone who has many (8+) years of past experience as a waitress, I do not always feel obligated to leave 20% if the service is poor. And it has to be pretty bad for me not to tip 20%, but I know that even when you’re busy, you can still put in an effort to say, “hey I’m sorry I’m really busy” and acknowlede that you’re at least trying. Or if it’s not busy and you can see the waitstaff lounging around and making no attempt to pay attention to you, just because they don’t feel like it, that won’t get you 20% either. For better than average service, then you get more than 20%. Especially barstaff.
I always tip more then expected. I hate people at bars who get a drink that costs like 1.75 and then leave the .25 as a tip. A certain bartender I know would throw it back at them usually with a snappy comment along the lines of “you need it more then me”.
Also if you tip like that at a busy bar don’t plan on getting too many drinks.
justin what bar are you going to with $1.75 drinks?
I think the “50 club” has 1.75 drafts